


Possible Mates

by Sylanna



Series: Marks and Music [2]
Category: TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works & Related Fandoms, The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Lord of the Rings (Movies), The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Gen, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-26
Updated: 2020-09-26
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:55:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26661052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sylanna/pseuds/Sylanna
Summary: Young Lindir discovers how soul-marks work and their meaning. He starts to find himself. Thankfully his parents are supporting.
Relationships: Elrond Peredhel/Lindir
Series: Marks and Music [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1939819
Kudos: 16





	Possible Mates

**Author's Note:**

> This is a bit of an explanation to the main work in the series, where I do not come around to explain why I choose the term 'possible mate' instead of just 'soulmate'. Personally, I think it's a flawed concept of it being set in stone. Basically, in this AU, a mark signifies compatibility, the chance of developing feelings.

One evening, after his mark appeared and he was still lost at how to find his possible mate, Lindir thought back to the time his mother had explained him everything about the marks, as she understood it. It had been a conversation Lindir had memorized well, because even in his younger years, he had understood the importance.

“Mum, how do the soulmarks work?”, Lindir asked. He had seen the vines on his parents’ arms, perfectly matching. He did not understand how they came to be. In school, the older boys had started whispering about who would become their mate, but the significance still escaped Lindir.  
“Oh dear”, his mother said. “It is quite easy. They signify compatibility of your character with the person bearing the same mark.”  
Lindir let that sit for a while. He did not understand the word. “What is compatibility?”  
“It means something is well suited for something. It could mean you and the other person with the mark would make good friends.”  
“So they are my friend immediately.”  
His mother shook his head. “This is not how it works. Friendship does not magically appear, it is a process.”  
Lindir nodded. This he knew. It had taken him some time to make friends in school, his interests in music and such seemed boring to the other students. “Are they my friend forever, like you and Dad are?”, he asked further.  
“Not necessarily. People develop over time. Sometimes they change in a way unpredicted. That’s why the concept of soulmates is flawed the way it is portrayed in films and literature.” She sighed. “Forever is never easy. Even me and your dad, we changed in the years since our marks appeared, but we changed together.”  
Lindir nodded. This seemed to be true. He remembered how one friend from kindergarden he disliked greatly now. Maybe it was the same for adults. “When will I get a mark?”  
She smiled. “Probably not for many years. Somehow, children never get them, that’s why the marks are thought to be romantic. I personally think that we change too much in youth and the marks only appear when we are more sure of ourselves.”  
“I did not change that much”, Lindir protested.  
His mother just ruffled his long hair a bit. “But you did, my boy.”

“I do not want my mate to be a girl”, Lindir exclaimed one day over breakfast. He was fifteen now and he was surprised how his classmates all seemed to focus on which character they were searching for in their female mate.  
His mother looked at him with a curious glance. “And why not?”, she asked without judgement.  
Lindir swallowed for fear of upsetting his mother. “The boys in my class, they all talk about how beautiful the girls are and so on. And I… I don’t understand this – obsession. I mean, girls are cool, Nienor and Ninwen are my best friends, but I do not wish to kiss them or shit.”  
“No cursing at table”, Lindir’s father reminded him. “Are boys more interesting for you then?”  
Lindir shook his head. “Not really. The ones my age are just gross.”  
“Then do not worry”, his fathers said. “Your mate will be one that you do not find gross, be it male, female or any other gender.”  
The boy nodded and dug in and ate his cereal, thankful for the understanding of his parents.

“How did you get your mark?”, Lindir asked his mother two weeks later.  
“I met your father at work”, she said. “He was a new employee, there for an interview and I was the one conducting it. Four days later, the vines wrapped around my wrist. Thankfully he had already been accepted on the workforce, otherwise it could have become strange for me, fighting accusations of favouritism.”  
“When did you find out you were mates?”  
“He phoned everyone he had spoken with and thus he found me. We went on many dates to see if we were truly as compatible as the marks claimed. We were. As I told you, it’s not like there is a magical eruption of love when you get a mark.”

Three years later, Lindir came to the understanding he was gay. He told his parents and kept it at that. It was not something he considered to be an important part of his identity. Sometimes he got asked why he was in no relationship without a mark, something common nowadays. So far, a partner would interfere with his busy life, so he did not search for anyone actively.  
He got into the Eregion Music School without problem and studied the harp and learned how to sing. He was certain his future lay in some choir or orchestra. At least something to do with music.

In the last year of university, he met Erestor, an ellon who was studying with the guitar people. Erestor introduced him to folk rock and metal music and Lindir loved it instantly. Together, they started writing songs and recorded some acoustic versions of it. Both remained markless for the years of university.  
Their small songs they uploaded to the internet gave them moderate followers and they were able to sell some of their tracks. It ended when Erestor got a job with a small label as executive producer for background-recordings. They still met up, but mostly for drinks and not for music.  
Lindir went back to his harping, working with an orchestra, but he was not really happy. He still followed the metal and rock scene with interest, but no band was searching for a singer or harpist like him.

Lindir’s life changed, when he found a small note on the internet, of a couple who were searching for musicians to start a band in the folk rock genre. He wrote them a mail, seeing if there was a place for him.  
The response came almost immediately and everything changed.

Maybe it was good he had never gotten a mark in the years in between. Lindir was the first to acknowledge he had changed much in all those years. He had lived through some not all too happy years after university. With the band, things had finally picked up. In the beginning he had tried dating people he was not marked for, but these flings crumbled before they evolved. With the success growing, he gave up on dating, only admiring attractive men from afar, knowing nothing would come of it.  
Until one day he had woken up with a soul-mark on his chest.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading the (kind-of) prequel to 'Marked by Music'.  
> Kudos and Comments are highly appreciated.


End file.
